The Candidates speak 2/5

Each week, TC Media invites Municipal candidates to express their views on various local issues. Their response is published word for word. Their participation is not compulsory.

This week, we ask the candidate what specific steps would they put into place to better serve the English community.

Nora Chénier-Jones
Projet Montréal

I value being able to get information in English and I believe all Montrealers deserve the same quality of services, no matter what language they speak. The multicultural aspect of our borough demands that we take steps to ensure services in multiple languages, not only in French or English. One of the concrete actions we will take is to ensure that the staff is bilingual, at the very least, and will encourage hires that have knowledge of more than those two languages. Providing education to our employees in the five most commonly used languages by our citizens will also be considered. All documents on the borough’s website would be promptly available in English. It is a basic right and, with that in mind, we would work towards being able to relay that information in the preferred language of Laurentians. By having pertinent documents as well as staff able to respond to them then we can truly start serving the residents of St-Laurent while paying respect to our diversity and most specifically the aging population.

Alan DeSousa
Équipe Coderre

I want all our residents to participate fully in our community life and enjoy easy access to all our services.

• It starts with a mayor and council close to our English-speaking community;
• Our public communications, community bulletins and cultural agendas are published also in English;
• Our cultural activities include English programming, such as Shakespeare-in-the-Park;
• We work closely with the English schools and Vanier College on common projects.

The English-speaking community is an integral part of Saint-Laurent – always was, always will be.

I work hard to make sure that it is well served!

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Je veux que tous nos résidents, y compris ceux de la communauté anglophone, participent pleinement à la vie communautaire et accèdent facilement à nos services.

• Tout d’abord, un maire et des conseillers qui sont proches de la communauté anglophone;
• Tous nos outils de communication tels le bulletin communautaire et l’agenda culturel sont aussi publiés en anglais;
• Nos activités culturelles incluent une programmation en anglais, comme Shakespeare-in-the-Park;
• Nous travaillons étroitement avec les écoles anglophones et le collège Vanier sur des projets communs.

La communauté anglophone est, a toujours été et sera toujours partie intégrante de Saint-Laurent.

Je travaille fort pour m’assurer qu’elle soit bien servie!